Sectionalizer for open cutouts



Jan. 30, 1968 R. E. KOCH 3,365,956

SECTIONALIZER FOR OPEN CUTOUTS Filed Nov. 16, 1965 GSheets-Sheet lfiM/Zfi: 21. 050? I 1 505,

Jan. 30, 1,968 R. E. KOCH SECTIO NALIZER FOR OPEN CUTOUTS 6 Sheets-Sheet2 Filed Nov. 16, 1965 Jan. 30, 1968 R. E. KOCH SECTIONALIZER FOR OPENCUTOUTS 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 16, 1965 Jan. 30, 1968 R. E. KOCH3,365,956

SECTIONALIZER FOR OPEN CUTOUTS Filed Nov. 16, 1965 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 \X\n l v i I Ilak'l] IIIIIIIFIIII II V A FlIIlII/lllllfillllllllllll I ll7llliliililiilillllllfi'l fllliilmilllllilliiiil Jan. 30, 1968 FiledNov. 16, 1965 R. E. KOCH 3,365,956

SECTIONALIZER FOR OPEN CUTOUTS 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 W (Ii Ja n. 30, 1968 R.E. KOCH 3,

SECTIONALIZER FOR OPEN CUTOUTS Filed Nov. 16, 1965 I 6 Sheets-Sheet 6fiM/fi/i 5059/ 15 005,

ited States ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An improved open cutout type linesectionalizer having a resetting collapsible toggle linkage and anasymmetrically responsive viscous fluid timer.

This invention relates to overcurrent protective devices and moreparticularly to improvements in line sectionalizers of the typecomprising the subject matter of application Ser. No. 507,395 filed Nov.12, 1965, now patent No. 3,321,721 in the name of Sidney R. Smith, Jr.,and assigned to the present assignee.

A line sectionalizer is an adjunct of an automatic recloser. It isconnected in circuit with, but on the load side of, the latter and likethe latter it is a normally closed circuit disconnector which opens inresponse to overcurrent. Unlike a recloser, however, it does not open atonce upon the occurrence of overcurrent and it does not automaticallyreclose after it has opened. What it does is count impulses ofovercurrent resulting from the cycling action of the recloser and beforethe recloser locks open it locks open, thus sectionalizing the line byremoving the presumably faulted section on its load side so that therecloser can reset itself and maintain service on the rest of thecircuit. But for the sectionalizer, the recloser would lock open andterminate service on the entire load side of its circuit. In otherWords, a sectionalizer allows the recloser to maintain service on theentire circuit if the condition, usually a fault, causing theovercurrent is temporary, and it removes only the faulted section of thecircuit if the fault is permanent.

Suitable locations for line sectionalizers are where branch circuitsconnect to a main feeder containing a recloser. Many such locationsalready contain an open type fuse cutout.

Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a new and improvedline sectionalizer which can be inserted in an open cutout frame inplace of the usual fuse tube.

Another object of the invention is to provide a releasable latch togglemechanism for a sectionalizer which mechanism is provided with a new andimproved reset construction.

A further object of the invention is to provide a new and improved timermechanism for a sectionalizer.

The invention will be better understood from the following descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawings and its scope will bepointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation view of a preferred embodiment of theinvention in its normal operating position,

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing successive positions of thesectionalizer when it is opening,

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 4 of thecollapsible supporting toggle mechanism of the sectionalizer,

FIGURE 4 is another sectional view of the collapsible supportingmechanism taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 3,

FIGURE 5 is a detail view showing the resetting ac tion of the mechanismillustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4,

3,355,956 Patented Jan. 30, 1968 FIGURE 6 is a longitudinalmid-sectional view of the counting mechanism of the sectionalizer,

FIGURE 7 is a plan view of the same mechanism taken on line 77 of FIG.6,

FIGURE 8 is a side elevation view of the structure shown in FIG. 7 whenviewed in the direction of the arrows on the section line 8-8 of FIG. 7,

FIG. 9 is a vertical mid-sectional view of the timer mechanism,

FIGURE 10 is a cross sectional view taken on line Iii-10 of FIG. 9,

FIGURES 11, 11a, and 11b are perspective views of the counting and timermechanism showing successive stages or positions of its parts during acounting sequence of the mechanism.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1, thesectionalizer, as indicated generally at 1, is mounted in an open cutoutframe indicated generally at 2. The cutout frame 2 comprises a so-calledlatch casting 3 and hook casting 4 supported at the outer ends ofseparate resilient insulator members 5 joined at their other ends by acommon yoke casting 6. The latch casting 3 has a line terminal 7integral therewith and the other casting has a line terminal 8 integraltherewith. The sectionalizer 1 comprises a middle section 9 containingthe counting mechanism, an upper latched contact assembly 10 and a lowercollapsible toggle supporting assembly 11. The latched contact assembly10 comprises a contact face 12 for engaging a contact on the latchcasting 3 and latching ears 13 for engaging notches 14 in the latchcasting 3. The mechanism 11 comprises trunnions 15 mounted in the hookcasting 4. This mechanism when it breaks or releases pivots about anaxis 16 as more clearly shown in FIG. 2.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the full line showing of the sectionalizerillustrates the breaking or pivoting of the toggle support around thepoint 16 allowing the sectionalizer to drop from the dashed lineposition corresponding to that of FIG. 1 so that the latching cars 13slip out of the notches 14 allowing the sectionalizer 1 to pivot aboutthe trunnions 15 and drop open as indicated by the right-hand dashedshowing of the sectionalizer. This downward swinging motion is limitedby a bumper stop 17.

The mechanism 11 is shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5. As shown in thesefigures, there is a main lever pivotally mounted at 18 in a housing 19.This lever has an outwardly extending portion 20 terminating in thetrunnions 15 and an inwardly extending bifurcated end 22 between whosetines a roller 23 is mounted. A spring 24 tends to rotate the lever20-22 clockwise as viewed in FIG. 3 to its unlatched or collapsedposition shown in dashed lines. The lever 22 is held in its latchedposition as shown in sold lines by a catch 25 on the lower tine 26 ofthe bifurcated end of a second lever 27 pivotally mounted at 28 in thecasing 19. A spring 29 tends to rotate the lever 27 into its latchedposition. The mechanism is unlatched by a reciprocal plunger or button30, which when pushed down to its dotted position shown in FIG. 3 willrotate the lever 27 thus releasing the catch 25 and allowing the arm20-22 to rotate clockwise until the parts are in the position shown indotted lines in FIG. 3. This showing indicates that the roller 23 cannotslip past the end of the time 26 so that reverse rotation of the lever20-22 if carried far enough will automatically recatch or reset themechanism. However, in order to insure a positive return stroke of thetripping button 30, and resetting of the mechanism which operated it theroller 23 will engage the upper tine of the bifurcated end of the lever27 thus positively raising it and correspondingly resetting the trippingbutton 30 as shown in FIG. 5. When the parts are released, they willthen spring back to the caught position illustrated in the full lineshown in FIG. 3.

The mechanism is sealed by a rubber boot 31 clamped between the housing19 and the outer end of the lever 20 near its trunnions. A flexibleconductor strap 32 serves to make a positive electrical connectionbetween the metallic housing 19 and the lever 20 with its trunnions 15.

Referring now to FIG. 6, the counting mechanism 9 is housed in acylindrical container 33 and comprises a strip wound solenoid coil 34connected by a lead 35 to the contact 12 and by a lead 36 to the housing19 so that the solenoid coil is directly connected in series between theline terminals 7 and 8 of the-device. A solenoid plunger 37 is mountedfor reciprocal motion in the bore of the solenoid coil 34, and it hasattached thereto an external cup 38 surrounding the coil and havingattached to its outer surface a ratchet plate 39 for indexing an arm 40associated with the timer mechanism indicated generally at 41. Theplunger 37 is hollow and extending therethrough is a rod or shaft 42with its lower end seated in the tripping button 30 and extending tobeyond the top of the solenoid coil. A transverse pin 43 in the shaft 42normally serves to limit the downward gravity and/or spring biasedmovement of the plunger 37, but as will be explained later apredetermined number of strokes of the plunger and cup within apredetermined time will cause the shaft 42 to be rotated until the pin43 is in registration with a slot 44 in the plunger whereby the plungercan drop and push the button 30 down so as to cause the toggle mechanismto release in the manner previously described.

The timer mechanism 4-1 is supported from a plate 45 and comprisesprincipally a second shaft 46 and a third shaft 47 mounted for relativecoaxial rotation and extending coaxially relative to the first shaft 42.They are in efiect journaled together in a cup member 48 of the timer at49 in FIG. 9. The lower end of the shaft 46 carries a transverse arm 50which is at a fixed angular relation to the ratchet arm 40 through theshaft 46 and the cup 48. The arm 50 serves to strike and move an arm 51on the upper end of the shaft 42, the latter shaft being biased to itsnormal position by a spring 52 attached to an arm 53 integral with thearm 51. (See FIG. 7.)

As shown more clearly in FIG. 9, the third shaft 47 is of steppedconstruction, the smaller diameter portion 54 of which is seated in ajournal bearing 55, and the larger diameter portion 56 of which abutsthe end of the journal bearing 55 and has an outer diametercorresponding to the outer diameter of the journal bearing 55.Surrounding the journal bearing 55 and the larger diameter portion 56 ofthe shaft 47 is a close fit spiral brake spring 57 fixed at its upperend of the plate 45 This construction provides a virtually zero backlash slip brake, the spring being wound counterclockwise when lookingdown on it from the top, i.e. when looking down on FIGS. 7 or 8 so thatclockwise rotation of the third shaft 47 will tend to unwind the springand is thus permitted with relatively little friction, whereascounterclockwise rotation of the shaft 47 when viewed from the top willtend to tighten the spring 57 on the shaft and virtually lock it againstrotation.

A cover 58 (see FIG. 9) closes the cup shaped member 48 through whichthe larger diameter portion 56 of the shaft 47 extends and is sealed bya labyrinth seal 59 between those parts. The lower end of the shaft 47terminates in a so-called blade rotor 60 having beveled leading edges61. The cup 48 is filled with a viscous fluid such as silicone gum 62which is moved past the rotor 60 when there is relative motion betweenthe cup 48 and the rotor 60. Pockets are provided in the bottom of thecup filled with a resilient non-porous material 63 to compensate forvolume changes of the fiuid due to its thermal expansion and contractionso as to prevent leakage of the fluid under these conditions.

A clock spring 64 surrounds the mechanism and has one end attached by apin 65 to the plate 45 and the other end attached by a pin 66 to thecover 58 of the timer casing, this spring biasing the timer cup and arm40 counterclockwise when viewed from the top against a stop pin 67 whichdetermines the normal starting position of the counting mechanism.

The general operation of the ratcheting and countlng mechanism is bestillustrated in FIGS. 11, 11a and 11b. FIG. 11 shows the parts in theirnormal position with the arm 40 held against the stop 67 by the clockspring 64 and with a maximum angular displacement between the arm 50 onthe shaft 46 and the arm 51 on the shaft 42, the latter being held inits normal position by the spring 52. On the first upward stroke of thesolenoid plunger, cup 38 and ratchet plate 39, as illustrated in FIG.11a, the inclined surface or first step 68 of the ratchet plate 39 willindex or notch the arm 40 clockwise through a given angle thus alsomoving the arm 50 toward the arm 51. As soon as the solenoid coil isdeenergized (by the opening of the recloser in the circuit), the cup 36drops and an auxiliary ratchet finger 69 attached to the ratchet plate39 strikes the top of the already indexed around arm 40 and indexes itthrough a further small angle in a clockwise direction as indicated bythe new positions of the arms 40 and 50 in FIG. 11b. Successive reclosercycles will cause successive up and down strokes of the cup 38 thusprogressively indexing the arms 40 and 50 around until on the lastupward stroke, this being the third in the mechanism illustrated, thearm 50 will strike the arm 51 and rotate the shaft 42 until the pin 43engages the slot 44 thus allowing the plunger 37 on its final downwardstroke to fall past the pin 43 and depress the button 30 to trip out andopen the sectionalizer in the manner previously described.

Ordinarily the cyclic up and down motion of the ratchet plate 39 will berelatively rapid and powerful and the rotor 60 and the timer cup 48 willboth turn as a unit due to the viscosity of the fluid and the rapidityof the motion, this being permitted by the one way brake action of thespring 57 which offers little resistance to clockwise rotation of theshaft 47. However, whenever the arm 40 moves away from the stop pin 67and is not being positively indexed in a clockwise direction by theratchet, the clock spring 64 acts to return it slowly to its normalposition against the stop 67. This action results from the clamping ofthe shaft 47 by the spring 57 when the shaft 47 tends to rotatecounterclockwise so that the clock spring 64 must then overcome the dragof the rotor 60 in the fluid 62 in the cup 48. In order that this dragnot be excessive, the leading edges of the rotor 60 are beveled at 31:10that the rotor in effect will cut through the viscous While there hasbeen shown and described a particular embodiment of the invention, itwill be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes andmodifications may be made without departing from the invention, andtherefore it is intended by the appended claims to cover all suchchanges and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope ofthe invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1. In a line sectionalizer, a collapsible supporting linkage thereforcomprising, in combination, a housing having a first lever pivotallyattached thereto near the bottom thereof, said lever having an outwardlyextending end with a pair of transverse trunnions attached thereto andan inwardly extending end with a transverse projection thereon, a secondlever pivotally mounted at one end in said housing and having its otherend bifurcated and embracing said projection and having a catch on itslower tine for latching said projection, and a reciprocable member insaid housing for engaging the upper tine of the bifurcated end of thesecond lever for moving it to release the first lever, said first leverwhen returned to beyond its latched position engaging said upper tine ofthe bifurcated end of said second lever and servicing to rotate saidsecond lever to cause its upper tine to reengage and positively resetsaid reciprocable member.

2. In a line sectionalizer, a collapsible supporting linkage thereforcomprising, in combination, a housing having a first lever pivotallyattached thereto near the bottom thereof, said lever having an outwardlyextending end with a pair of transverse trunnions attached thereto andan inwardly extending bifurcated end with a roller therein, a secondlever pivotally mounted at one end in said housing and having its otherend bifurcated and embracing said roller and having a catch for latchingsaid roller, and a reciprocable member in said housing for engaging thebifurcated end of the second lever for moving it to release the firstlever, said first lever when returned to beyond its latched positionengaging said upper tine of the bifurcated end of said second lever andserving to rotate said second lever to cause its upper tine to reengageand positively reset said reciprocable member.

3. In a line sectionalizer, a timer mechanism for permitting rapidmovement of an element in one direction from a normal position andcausing slow automatic return of said element to said normal position inthe opposite direction comprising, in combination, a one way slip brake,a viscous fluid coupling between said one way slip brake and saidelement, and a spring operatively connected between said element and afixed anchor for urging said element against a fixed stop whichdetermines said normal position, whereby when said element is movedrapidly in said one direction said brake slips and when said element isreleased said brake holds and said viscous fluid coupling delays thespring biased return movement of said element.

4. A line sectionalizer timer as in claim 3 in which said fluid couplinghas means for accommodating thermal expansion and contraction of itsfluid.

5. A line sectionalizer timer as in claim 3 in which said fluid couplinghas an asymmetrical part movable relative to its fluid more easily inone direction than in the opposite direction.

6. In a line sectionalizer, a timer comprising, in combination, astepped shaft having a small diameter section rotatably mounted in afixed journal bearing and a large diameter section adjacent said bearingand of substantially the same diameter as the outer diameter of saidbearing, a close fitting spiral brake spring around said bearing andaround the adjacent large diameter portion of said shaft wherebyrotation of said shaft in one direction tends to unwind said brakespring whereas rotation in the opposite direction tends to tighten saidbrake spring and'produce a virtually zero back lash strong frictionalbraking action on said shaft, a transverse plate on the end of the largediameter section of said shaft, a cup enclosing said plate and anintegral laterally extending arm on said cup, a viscous fluid in saidcup, a cover for said cup through which said shaft extends, said coverbeing sealed at the edges of said cup and providing a fluid tightjournal bearing for said shaft whereby said cup and arm can rotaterelative to said plate, a coil spring operatively connected between saidcup and a fixed anchor, for biasing said cup in such angular directionthat the torque transmitted to said plate by said fluid tightens saidbrake spring, the leading edge of said plate being beveled to reducesaid torque.

7. A timer for a sectionalizer comprising, in combination, a cup shapedmember mounted for free rotation about its axis, a ratchet pawl armextending radially from said cup shaped member, a coil springoperatively connected between said cup and a fixed anchor for biasingsaid cup shaped member and arm in a given angular direction against astop, a shaft extending axially of said cup and having a transverseblade in said cup, said shaft having a brake spring means so wound as totend to tighten itself on said shaft when said shaft rotates in saidgiven angular direction and to loosen itself on said shaft when saidshaft rotates in the opposite angular direction, a quantity of siliconegum filling said cup, a cover sealingly closing said cup and having alabyrinth seal around said shaft whereby said blade in said gum offersmaximum resistance to rotation of said cup and arm in said given angulardirection and minimum resistance to rotation of said cup and arm in theopposite direction, said blade having a square edge on one side and abeveled edge on the opposite side with said square edge facing in saidgiven angular direction whereby said gum offers less resistance torotation of said cup and arm in said given angular direction relative tosaid blade than in the opposite angular direction relative to saidblade.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,563,302 8/1951 Atkinson et al.74-88 MILTON KAUFMAN, Primary Examiner.

